Is this the Professional Passenger Rumour Network too...
But in short: look we all want to fly cheap and to be able to do so we all need to fit in the system. Anything outside the system can generally not be handled by the system (ie cheap staff with limited responsibilities). The best and in my view only way: make sure your request is noted at the time (e-mail is generally ok) and sort it out afterwards. The frontline staff cannot help you but customer service or as suggested your travelinsurance will sort it afterwards.. The average frontline staff get's 100s of "my mother died" or "my cat is pregnant" stories a month so it is not as special as it is for you and worse a lot of mothers die every other week...
Now can we go back to talking airplanes?